Benefits of training with a partner

When you undertake a new exercise regime, it can be difficult to maintain it. But if you enlist a training partner, it can make it easier to stick to your programme and offer lots of additional benefits as well. Here are five reasons why training with a partner can be beneficial to you.

A problem shared

Often, it’s easier to have someone to share the experience with. If you know there is someone that understands what your goals are and how you’re trying to achieve them, you can feel like there is someone you can relate to and talk to about your experiences. They can also give you words of encouragement and help you to track your progress. Enlisting a training partner to make a note of what you’ve done can give you a reminder of how far you’ve come since the beginning of your programme.

Motivation

If you are training with someone, there is a person there to help motivate you on your way. If you see them working hard and seeing results, it can encourage you to do the same. They can pick you up when you’re feeling down or flagging and give you the encouragement to keep going with your regime. A few choice words from a training partner can be just what you need to renew or increase your efforts after a dip.

Competition

Having a training partner adds an element of competitiveness to your programme. If you see your partner making progress, it can make you want to do better than them, thus making you work even harder. If they skip a day or fall off the wagon, you can feel like you’ve taken an extra step towards success by maintaining your regime. On top of that, you can help to motivate them to keep going and give you a decent competition. Hearing yourself talk up your own success can also be further personal encouragement.

Safety

Although it’s not frequent that problems occur during your training, accidents do happen. Having a partner means you can both look out for each other and possibly spot any potential dangers before they occur. If one of you has more experience of certain machines or exercises, you can ensure that the other is doing it safely and in the most effective way.

Fun

Working out with someone is more sociable than doing it alone. It can also reduce the intimidation factor that some people feel when joining a new gym. Having someone you know and can talk to helps you to relax and feel more at ease. If your training partner is already a regular member, they can also introduce you to other people and help you make new friends. These new acquaintances could also potentially become secondary training partners in the future.

Sharing

If you are working with a partner, you can expand on your knowledge as well as sticking to a training programme. People will have different hints and tips of what has proved effective for them personally. Exchanging this information with each other can benefit both of you and help you to tailor your programme accordingly. Some people can find protein bars work really well as part of their regime, whereas others find that doing a certain exercise is particularly effective for them.

There are a huge number of benefits to training with a partner and you need to find what works best for you. It may be that you prefer to train alone and meet up with your partner occasionally to make a comparison. Or it could work better for you to have a partner with you for every step of the programme. Ultimately, it’s finding what fits into your lifestyle the best to give you the maximum benefits.

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Joe Elvin is a fitness fanatic and blogger who writes this post on behalf of sports supplement supplier Sci-MX, stockists of protein powers, shakes and bars.